Just came back from the iPhone India launch. Here is a list of what all went down.

Breaking News:

Windows was being used to activate the iPhone!

Person who bought the phone second, got it almost an hour late.

Around 30 people bought the iPhone today.

The Mobile Store will also be retailing the iPhone, most probably only with Airtel.

Seconds before the launch there was silence and someone had the balls to shout – “iPhone sucks.” That was me!

Now for the glitch:

According to the sales rep:

Apple has a database of IMEI nos. and first 4 digits of the no. on the SIM card. Now these 4 digits allow Apple to know whether the phone is from Airtel or Vodafone and maybe same goes for the other international operators. The IMEI & first 4 nos. tell Apple whether the phone is legit or no.

Also, I can use any old Airtel SIM card with my new iPhone.

Now, under the assumption that a consignment of iPhones being sent to India has a certain range of IMEI nos. if someone is able to get the range of the IMEI nos., which I may add is pretty simple as the IMEI is printed on the back of every phone.

Coupling the facility of being able to use any old Airtel SIM card & the ability to find and spoof the IMEI no. 1 can theoretically fool iTunes into thinking that this is a legit phone.

Coming to the event, the event was drab. Onlookers were asked to come up on stage and sing songs. There were mimicry artists & magicians.